(Take) Give Your Heart
by I.W.P-chan
Summary: In a world where people can give their hearts, the manifestation of their emotions, to others, Akira doesn't expect to receive any during his year in Tokyo for his probation, let alone gather quite the collection.


Summary: In a world where people can give their hearts, the manifestation of their emotions, to others, Akira doesn't expect to receive any during his year in Tokyo for his probation, let alone gather quite the collection.

 _Note: The colors are based on the heart rankings in Sugar Sugar Rune, except for yellow, orange and white which I changed into bittersweet, longing and familial love respectively._

 _Credit goes for_ _ **OnceABlueMoon**_ _for coming up with the idea for the Valentine Day tradition._

 _Gift for_ _ **OnceABlueMoon**_ _because she is awesome and I adore her ^^_

 **Warnings: Experimental Style (Yet Again), Canon Compliant (*Gasps*), Lowkey Pain In Some Point, Obligatory Everyone Loves Akira Fic (And He Loves Them Back), Author Had More Fun Playing In The Concept, Akechi Waits To Stab You In The Back With Feels, The Fic Is Doing Its Own Thing (Author Had Been Kicked Into The Corner And Forgotten).**

 **Disclaimer:** Don't Own P5.

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Akira leaves for Tokyo with no comfort but his parents' kisses on his brow, their arms around his shoulders, and their Hearts resting against his chest.

The two Hearts are strung on a sturdy chain, each in its own locket carefully engraved to indicate which carries which heart.

(Not that it matters much to Akira as he's not exactly sure he hasn't mixed the two Hearts together; they're too identical to be easily distinguished- a pure white Heart from each of his mothers, their heavy weight a calming presence against the beating of his own heart.)

The two lockets clink together with his movement and he puts a hand to them.

A year and he'll be back. He'll have to stay with a stranger, keep his head down, keep his mouth shut, and keep himself out of trouble. He can do this. He _has_ to do this.

(He doesn't have any other option.)

.

It only takes Akira a couple of days to screw up and land himself in trouble.

(So much for holding out for a _year_.)

But the thing is, the thing is-

Trouble doesn't end there.

(Trouble transitions from Kamoshida, to Madarame, to Kaneshiro, to Medjed, to Okumura, to-)

Trouble continues on, and short of having divine powers to change society with the snap of a finger, he's helpless to stop it.

(Doesn't stop him from doing his absolute best to deal with it.)

But the trouble isn't everything.

Coming to Tokyo, he hadn't expected to make any friends, but now he's gathered a few.

(He has Ryuji, he has Ann, he has Morgana and Yusuke, Makoto and Futaba, Haru and Akechi, Sojiro and-)

They have his back, they help him out, they ease his loneliness, and as he entrusts his various aspects to them, they stir his heart within him with emotion-

Perhaps _friends_ is a bit too light a word.

Not that it matters what word to use to call them (friends, comrades, _confidants_ \- the last word strikes a chord within him), they're the people Akira has forged bonds with, they're the people Akira will burn the world down for, and they're the people Akira will give his Hearts to.

.

.

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Akira doesn't expect any of his friends to give him a Heart.

(Oh, he's planning on giving them his Hearts; there is no doubt about it. He feels too much towards them not to.)

And he certainly doesn't expect it to be _Ryuji_ the first one to give him one.

Maybe he shouldn't be surprised- he hadn't expected Ryuji on his first day of school either, hadn't expected someone so loud and prone to swearing to hold such a burning compassion inside of him, hadn't expected someone to drive him to _care_ , to get _attached_ , so easily.

Ryuji asks him to hangout one day after the whole fiasco with the track team is over and done with.

Ryuji is nervous when Akira meets him and Akira wonders what's on Ryuji's mind.

Ryuji tries his best to act normal, like there's nothing weighing on his shoulders and making him twitch whenever anyone walks too close to him, and Akira can stay quiet about it for only so long before he asks if there's something bothering Ryuji.

Ryuji almost jumps and looks at him while laughing nervously, "No, man, there's nothing wrong at all. What could be wrong, huh?"

Akira gives him a bland stare in response and Ryuji stops himself before he starts rambling.

"So, uh," Ryuji starts, scratching the back of his head and lightly bouncing one foot, "Dude, there's something I need to give you, yeah?"

Akira merely quirks his head to the side and Ryuji shoves his hand into his back and pulling it out as a fist clutched around an object.

Ryuji thrusts his fist towards Akira, urging him to take whatever he's holding.

Akira reaches out and Ryuji drops a glittering object into Akira's hand before bolting away, "See ya later, dude!"

Akira barely registers Ryuji's voice as he stares dumbfounded at the object in his hand.

It's a Heart and it's glittering under the sun; edged with a brilliant green contrasting with the shades of pink interwoven in the middle of it alongside a swirling red line extending from one side of the Heart to the other, easily seen with a tilt of the head.

He stares at it for a long time, stricken, before he remembers that he's out in public and that something as precious as Ryuji's Heart shouldn't be carelessly shown about.

Akira tucks the Heart away from prying eyes and heads back to Leblanc, but not before making a detour to the jewelry store to get a locket for the Heart.

(The locket slides into place next to the other two and Akira returns the chain back around his neck and tucks it under his shirt.)

.

 _(And indeed, Akira shouldn't have been surprised that Ryuji approached him with his Heart first.)_

.

.

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When Ann gives him her Heart, Akira isn't very surprised. It's not out of arrogance, out of belief that _of course_ he'll be getting a Heart from Ann; it's because Ann is Ann, full of life, bursting with passion, overflowing with love towards the people she cares about.

Akira has seen her exchange Hearts with Shiho, and knows she had exchanged Hearts with Ryuji.

(And he knows she has Hearts to give to the rest of the Phantom Thieves, too.)

Ann smiles at him and gives him her Heart, a beautiful gem of deep pinks and a bright red twined together like the petals of a rose, with a deep shade of blue wrapping around them like a ribbon.

Ann's cheeks are a rosy red and she fiddles with one of her pigtails, "You don't have to say, or do, anything in response. I just wanted to let you know and to give you my Heart for you," She says, smiling bashfully before she excuses herself to go.

"I'm meeting Makoto to have some crepes together. See you later, Akira!"

Akira waves at her as she goes with the hand unoccupied with holding the Heart.

Morgana is quiet in the bag and Akira peers at him to see that he's busy with carefully cradling and observing the Heart his Lady Ann gave him, a Heart of green threaded with light pink, with a look of awe.

.

(This time, when Akira gets a locket for Ann's Heart, he gets a specialized locket for Morgana to mount into his collar. Morgana sighs as he presses a paw to the locket and quietly mentions how much he wants to get his human body back, because then he'd be able to give Ann a Heart, too.)

.

.

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Akechi? Now Akechi is a surprise. He is one person Akira never would have thought would give a Heart to _anyone_ , let alone _Akira_.

Perhaps _'give'_ isn't the most accurate term to use.

.

Akechi lingers behind after one of their strategic meetings and Akira wonders if he needs anything. Akechi turns to look at him from where he was staring out the window and gives him a smile; Akira notes how _this_ smile is considerably more real than the one Akechi had been wearing while the others were around.

Akechi then asks Akira questions, trivial ones Akira was sure Akechi could have easily found answers for himself, and Akira wonders why Akechi felt like stalling.

Minutes later, Akechi excuses himself and leaves, leaving a curious Akira in his wake.

.

Akira doesn't find it until days later.

It's the eighteenth of November, the calling card had been sent with Makoto, the Thieves have returned to their homes, and Akira is in Leblanc's attic, with no one but Morgana for company, as usual, the two of them conversing about what will happen the next day.

It's by chance that Akira sees it; he's looking around the attic with a heavy heart, a small part of him wondering if he'll ever return to it, when his eyes land on an object wedged between his work desk and the wall.

With slightly furrowed eyebrows, Akira rises from his bed and heads to the desk, Morgana following him. He pries the object from the tiny space it fell into.

It's a plain, dark-colored cloth and nothing about it stands out, other than the fact that it was simply meant to hide whatever item is within its folds.

Akira opens the cloth and his breath catches in his throat, heart stuttering in his chest as a Heart tumbles from the cloth into his hand.

It's a bloody red color so dark it could be easily mistaken for black in the dim lighting, with the edges marked with dashes of yellow, orange and purple.

Akira's fingertips touch the surface of the Heart and he _knows_.

It hurts but he knows.

(Akechi has never meant to _give_ his Heart, Akira easily understands, because Akechi had slipped it into a place he didn't want Akira to find until much, _much_ , later.)

(If he even meant for the Heart to be found at all.)

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The next day, before he goes to meet with the team to steal Sae's Treasure, he gets a locket for the Heart and slips it into the same chain as the rest.

.

 _(It sits heavy against his chest as he goes through the Palace, as he gets caught by the police, as he gets beaten within an inch of his life and drugged in the name of 'interrogation'.)_

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 _(It burns as he faces Akechi in Shido's Palace, burns even hotter mere seconds before Akechi pulls the trigger and sacrifices himself.)_

.

Akechi is the first person Akira pulls a Heart out for.

He doesn't get to give it him.

.

 _("I wish we had met sooner.")_

.

Akira gets a second locket matching the one he keeps Akechi's heart in and asks the jeweler to link the two together.

The jeweler gives him an inscrutable look before quietly setting to work.

.

Akira puts his Heart for Akechi in the matching locket, letting the two Hearts rest together, and settles his hand on top of them.

.

 _(He wonders if it would have made any difference if he discovered the Heart sooner and gave Akechi his own.)_

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.

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Makoto is practical and direct, and she doesn't like to waste time or beat around the bush when she it's best to go for the jugular.

There's a look of burning resolve in her eyes as she stares at him during the meeting the Thieves hold after Sae's Palace, her lips pressed in a firm line and her shoulders squared in determination.

She waits until everyone has left for the day before she approaches him, her eyes raking his form, lingering on bruises and wounds before settling on his chest where everyone in the Phantom Thieves knows Akira wears the Hearts given to him.

She grabs his hand and reaches into one of her pockets to retrieve an object before putting it in Akira's hand and closing it, her own hands wrapping around Akira's.

She squeezes lightly, her eyes still staring at him without wavering, before departing as well.

Akira doesn't need to look to know what Makoto put in his hand; the form enclosed within it is very familiar.

.

.

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Akira is following Sae to go turn himself in when the message from Yusuke arrives, asking Akira if he has time to spare to meet him.

Sae lets him go and he heads immediately to the place Yusuke suggested while firing off a quick text telling Yusuke that he's on his way.

.

Yusuke gives him a fond smile when he sees him and stretches a hand, a Heart glinting from where it's held between Yusuke's fingertips, "I wished to give you this."

Akira is almost numb when he accepts the Heart, a jewel splotched with deep blues and dark pinks.

"Is something the matter?" Yusuke tilts his head to the side.

Akira doesn't say anything, merely clutching the Heart in his hand and rising to his tiptoes to kiss Yusuke on the forehead. Yusuke follows Akira's movements and tilts his head down to give Akira easier access. He looks confused, as if unable to figure out just why, exactly, Akira would want to kiss his forehead.

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 _(It's not like he knows what it does to Akira to be given a Heart right before he is to turn himself in, what it does to Akira to think of how Yusuke may feel about it the next day.)_

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When Akira turns himself in, it's with one more Heart hanging in a locket around his neck.

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 _(He gets to keep the lockets with him while in juvie, and it's the only thing that makes his stay bearable.)_

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The day after he gets released is Valentine's Day.

He inwardly snorts and wonders about the convenient timing of everything.

He'd already planned to give his Hearts for the others right after he left juvie, Valentine's Day or not.

(Universal day for exchanging Hearts or not.)

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"Huh, it's Valentine," Sojiro says from where he's standing behind the counter, "Guess that explains all the couples. Don't you have someone to spend the day with? Or exchange Hearts with?" Sojiro asks.

At that moment, the bell hung above Leblanc's door rings as Haru and Futaba enter.

Akira smiles as he heads towards them; Haru raises her Heart, framed by her fingers in front of her while Futaba is clutching hers to her chest.

Haru is the first to offer hers with a beaming smile, and Akira reaches into his bag and takes out his Heart for Haru to offer it for her.

Just as the exchange is finished, Futaba rocks forward, her hand pushed towards Akira and presenting her own Heart. Akira chuckles and takes it before dropping his own Heart into her palm.

Futaba stares at the Heart in awe and plops herself into one of the booths.

Just then, the bell rings again as the door opens and the rest of the former Phantom Thieves walk into Leblanc, eyes lighting up at the sight of Akira before they rush towards him as if they haven't been with him just yesterday.

Akira's lips stretch into a soft smile and he welcomes the group tackle.

.

End

Extra Note: Colors

Yellow: Bittersweet

Orange: Longing

Red: Passionate Love (Romantic)

Pink: Affection (not necessarily romantic)

Green: Friendship

Blue: Respect

Purple: Lust

White: Familial love

Black: Hatred

(The shades indicate intensity)


End file.
